Toei Animation Retrospective Set for 35mm Screenings in Tokyo
The retrospective positions Toei's theatrical output in historical context at a time when most archival screenings have shifted to digital, making the 35mm format a central draw.
Reporting from 1 sources: Cartoon Brew.
The National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ) will host a retrospective of Toei Animation this summer, screening 50 theatrical features on 35mm film prints. The program runs from late July through early September. It offers a rare chance to see the studio's films in their original format at a time when most archival screenings have moved to digital. The NFAJ has not published a full lineup, but a teaser flyer confirms the selection spans more than four decades of Toei's output. Early works include The Tale of the White Serpent (1958), considered Japan's first color animated feature, Magic Boy (1959), and Alakazam the Great (1960). The retrospective also features The Little Norse Prince (1968), Isao Takahata's feature that launched a 50-year creative partnership with Hayao Miyazaki, who worked on scene designs and key animation. Later decades are represented by Galaxy Express 999 (1979) and Adieu Galaxy Express 999 (1981). The program highlights Toei's shift into franchise filmmaking with Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (1989) and Sailor Moon R: The Movie (1993). More recent selections include Digimon Adventure (1999) and One Piece: The Movie (2000).
The National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ) announced the retrospective on March 25. The program will run from late July through early September at the NFAJ venue in Tokyo. The 50 films will be shown on 35mm prints, a format that has become uncommon in archival screenings as institutions increasingly adopt digital projection. The selection spans from Toei's early color features to its franchise-driven hits of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Confirmed early titles include The Tale of the White Serpent (1958), Magic Boy (1959), and Alakazam the Great (1960). The Little Norse Prince (1968) marks Isao Takahata's directorial debut and the beginning of his collaboration with Hayao Miyazaki, who contributed scene designs and key animation. The sci-fi entries Galaxy Express 999 (1979) and Adieu Galaxy Express 999 (1981) represent Toei's late-1970s boom in space-themed anime. The franchise era is covered by Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (1989) and Sailor Moon R: The Movie (1993). More recent picks include Digimon Adventure (1999) and One Piece: The Movie (2000). The NFAJ has not yet released the full lineup, but the teaser flyer indicates the retrospective covers more than 40 years of Toei's history.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.